Photographs – Page 86 – www.WILDNATUREPHOTOTRAVEL.com

August Photo of the Month Winner: Linda Herd

August 4, 2015 Posted in Iceland, Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel PhotographyLeave a comment

Congratulations to the eighth print winner ‘Linda Herd’ for the photograph of the month for August 2015: ‘Landmannalaugar Super Moon’.

What Linda said: “A stunning photograph of an amazing landscape! I love the light and texture on the rocks. I would be proud to add a Joshua Holko print to my collection of fine art photographic prints.” Super Moon Rising at Landmannalaugar #2 Iceland Congratulations Linda (and thank you for the wonderful comment!), your print will be sent to you in September when I am back in the studio in Australia. Keep an eye out on my blog for the next print giveaway with the September photograph of the month. Remember the best way to get instant updates is to subscribe via email.

Photo of the Month August – Super Moon in Iceland – Win a Fine Art Print!

August 2, 2015 Posted in Iceland, Landscape Photographs, Media, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography16 Comments

I am currently somewhere off the coast of Svalbard leading my Wild Polar Bears expedition so have scheduled in my photograph of the month post to keep the Fine Art Print competition running whilst I am away.

In honour of the upcoming Highlands expedition, the photograph of the month for August 2015 is of a Super Moon rising over the Highlands in Landmannalaugar in Iceland under the Midnight Sun. Photographed last year, during a two week camping expedition with my good friend Antony we were fortunate to experience some truly superb light late one evening just as the super moon was rising above the mountains in the distance. We had hiked up to the summit of one of the taller peaks and spent a couple of hours photographing the wonderful mountains in extraordinary light. Super Moon Rising at Landmannalaugar #2 Iceland Don’t forget! You can win a free 13″ x 19″ Fine Art Print of this photograph including shipping anywhere in the world. All you need do is to be the first to comment on this post on the home page with your thoughts on why you like this photograph or why you would like to own a print of the image and then share the post with your preferred social media outlet.

Please just keep in mind, if you are the lucky winner for August you will just need to exercise a little patience until I get back to my studio in Australia and can make and send you the print. Good luck!

Departing for Wild Polar Bears and the Iceland Highlands 2015

July 20, 2015 Posted in Arctic, Iceland, Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Wildlife Photographs, Workshops and ExpeditionsLeave a comment

I am not exactly sure where the time has gone since I returned home to Australia from New Zealand a month or so ago, but tomorrow I will make the long journey back to Svalbard in the Arctic for my 2015 Wild Polar Bear expedition. I have been looking forward to this expedition for quite some time now and have been eager to get back to Svalbard and the land of the Polar Bear since my winter expedition earlier this year. Svalbard is an incredible place and one of the best places in the world to see and photograph wild Polar Bears living and hunting at the edge of the permanent pack ice. On this expedition we are using a small ice hardened vessel that will enable us to get in nice and close to drift ice around Svalbard. Importantly, it has nice low decks so we can get down to eye level with our subjects. With this expedition being limited to just twelve participants we will have plenty of room for everyone to photograph at once from both ship and zodiac and I am super excited to share this experience with all aboard. As well as Polar Bears, we will also likely photograph Walrus, Arctic Fox and a great many Arctic sea birds during our expedition. Svalbard-8864-Edit12015 After we finish up our Polar Bear Expedition I am heading to Iceland for my 2015 Highlands workshop. The Highlands of Iceland are the heart of the country and the jewel in the crown of Iceland’s landscapes. I am really looking forward to the opportunity to photograph in the highlands again with a passionate group of photographers and to be able to put the new Canon EOS 5DSR 50 mega pixel camera through its paces in this active landscape of colour and light. It has been just over a year since I was last in the Highlands and although I have visited this area many times it remains my absolute favourite place in Iceland to Photograph. The only thing better than actually photographing in this incredible location is getting to share it with other passionate photographers! The 2015 Highlands workshop has long been sold out – but if you are interested in photographing in this incredible part of Iceland I will be leading two workshops to the Highlands next year in late August and September with Daniel Bergmann and there are still a few places available. Just drop me an email to register your interest.Once we finish up our Highlands workshop I am heading back to Svalbard with Daniel Bergmann for our Kingdom of the Ice Bear expedition. Also accompanying us on this expedition will be a two person film crew from Untitled Film Works and we hope to produce a short film of our experiences during the expedition similar to what we produced in Greenland and Svalbard two years ago – Watch the previous video HERE. Both the Polar Bear expeditions have been sold out for many months, but there is a single place remaining on the 2016 expedition and details are on my website at www.jholko.com The ice conditions in Svalbard this year have been better than the previous ten years and I am hopeful we will have some really fabulous photographic encounters with Polar Bears during both expeditions. PolarBearsofSvalbard In terms of equipment for these expeditions I am taking everything from 11mm (Canon’s new 11-24mm) to 600mm lenses as well as two Canon EOS 1DX cameras (specifically for wildlife) and the new EOS 5DSR camera (specifically for landscape).

Just as an aside: Over the last twenty four months of international travel the airlines have managed to destroy two of the expensive North Face Rolling Thunder duffles; which I had been using for my checked luggage. These are some of the toughest and largest rolling bags I have come across and come with a lifetime warranty (and to North Face’s credit they have replaced the bag both times). It amazes me that the airlines can actually be rough enough to destroy these bags (it really would take some pretty serious effort). Rather than risk a third bag I have switched back to the normal North Face Expedition Duffle (lets see how they go with this one). Whilst these duffles don’t have rollers, they are slightly larger and significantly lighter than the rolling version; which is always a bonus. I will carry both a Gura Gear Bataflae 32L and a Gura Gear Chobe for my camera bags as well as a large Ortlieb waterproof duffle for zodiac excursions. See you in Svalbard.

How to Improve your Wildlife Photography without Spending a Lot of Money

July 18, 2015 Posted in News and Updates, Photographs, Uncategorized, Wildlife Photographs2 Comments

During the first lecture I presented on Arctic Wildlife Photography at the AIPP Event in Perth Western Australia earlier this month I caught a number of people off guard in the audience when I explained my process for going out to photograph a particular species. It is an approach that will cost you much less than a new camera or lens and is guaranteed to help you get better photographs during your next wildlife outing. It is also an approach that requires a little investment in time, but its time well spent that will ensure you capture better images than you otherwise might have.

When I leave for a photographic expedition to photograph wildlife (it doesn’t matter what sort of wildlife) I don’t just pack my bags and head off into the wilderness to photograph a given animal with the latest and greatest gear. I do an extensive amount of research into the animal’s ecology so that I not only know where to find them, but also so that I am fully armed with knowledge of their behaviour. This knowledge is critical to capturing intimate images that would otherwise be impossible to realise. It enables me to read the many subtle signs an animal often displays and even predict their behaviour. Most of us know that a house cat is usually agitated or afraid when it flattens its ears. And we use this knowledge to deal with the cat accordingly. This same knowledge is a critical component to effective and successful wildlife imagery. It is far more important than a faster focusing lens or a camera with one stop more dynamic range. Those technical aspects of equipment are irrelivent if you have not equipped yourself with the right knowledge of your subject.

To cite an actual recent example of this in practice – When I set out on my Arctic Fox project (now coming into its third year) I went out and purchased every book I could on the ecology of Arctic Foxes so that I could learn as much as possible about their behaviour long before I ever pressed the shutter on my camera (I own not less than half a dozen different books on Arctic foxes). I wanted to arm myself with knowledge of the foxes behaviour so that I could recognise subtle signs and cues in their behaviour as I worked with the animals in the field. Wildlife give a great many clues about what they are going to do next through their behaviour and if you know and can recognise these clues you can predict the animals behaviour and greatly increase your ratio of quality keepers. Hornvik-9988-Edit42015 The other thing you can do in addition to researching and reading about your subject is to enlist the help of someone studying the animal you want to photograph. A scientist or even a PHD student working with a particular species is likely to posses a lot more knowledge on your subject than you can probably otherwise acquire in a short period of time. Their assistance can be invaluable in the field in locating hard to find wildlife and in understanding wildlife behaviour.

Now I grant you, spending time purchasing books, researching and reading about your photographic subject is not nearly as glamorous as a purchasing a shiny new lens or camera and running straight out into the field, but it does cost a lot less money and provides a far great return on investment in photographic terms. The next time you plan to go out and photograph wildlife it is well worth taking some time out and doing some research and reading on your chosen subject. You will almost certainly learn something about your subject and you will capture better photographs as a result. I will be leaving for the Arctic in a couple of days to lead two photographic expeditions for Polar Bears and I will certainly be brushing up on my reading with a couple of new Polar Bear books on the long flights from Australia. Happy Reading…

Iceland the Highlands Workshops 2016 Open for Bookings

July 14, 2015 Posted in Iceland, Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Workshops and ExpeditionsLeave a comment

I am very excited to announce that I will be leading two workshops to Iceland in summer next year with my good friend and Iceland local Daniel Bergmann. Both workshops will have an emphasis on different regions of the Highlands as well as different coastal areas. These are workshops that will get you off the usual tourist route and into some of the more inaccessible, interesting and least visited areas of Iceland. We all also visit a few of the iconic locations as well as a few tucked away gems we want to keep up our sleeves. If you have never been to Iceland before and want to avoid the tourist traps, or if you are an Iceland regular and want to get into new territory then these are the workshops for you.The first workshop will run from August 14th until August 23rd 2016 and will focus on the Highlands and Northern area of Iceland. We will also visit the precipitous basalt cliffs and rock formations of the Snaefellsness Peninusla, amongst many other areas. You can download a detailed itinerary and information PDF form for the first workshop HERE.The second workshop will run from the 28th of August until the 6th of September 2016 and will focus on the Southern Highlands and eastern coastal regions of Iceland. Our intention on this workshop is to focus on some of the lesser known highland areas in the southern part of Iceland. We will also visit the precipitous ocean lined mountains at Stokksnes as well as vising the spectacular Laki Volcano and the world famous Jokulsarlon glacial lagoon. You can download a detailed itinerary and information PDF form for the second workshop HERE.

_MG_4121-Edit22014 We have chosen August and early September for these workshops as this is an ideal time to visit Iceland for photography. The days are still long with Sunrise around 5 a.m. and sunset just before 10 p.m. The best light for landscape photography is therefore during the evening and early morning. This means that we may have an early dinner and then head out to photograph and sometimes be out before breakfast for a morning shoot. On cloudy days we’ll have a more normal routine. What we’ll do exactly on any given day will be decided around the weather and other conditions and there will be small changes to our original plan to make the most of our time in each area.

Super Moon Rising at Landmannalaugar Iceland

A small group of participants (maximum of 12 plus leaders per workshop) guarantees a more personal and intimate experience than bigger tours can provide. This is a unique opportunity to travel and photograph with two experienced professionals who have a combined total of more than 40 years of photographic experience and can take you to the best locations that are off the beaten track, and at the right time – when the light is best. We will be travelling in a large off road ‘super jeep’ 4-wheel drive to give us plenty of space for camera equipment and gear. _MG_2174-Edit12014 Cost: The cost for each workshop is $7,450 USD. There is no single supplement and single rooms will be provided wherever possible.

Duration: 11 days/10 nights for each workshop
Includes: Accommodation for ten nights in single rooms. Food and beverages (excluding alcohol). All transport during the duration of the workshop in a modified 4-wheel drive vehicle. All tuition and guiding services.
Excludes: International flights, travel insurance and alcohol
Group size: 12 per workshop

Due to initial bookings and expressions of interest places on both these workshops is already limited. If you would like to register your interest for one of the remaining places or would like additional information please contact me at info@jholko.com.